exclusive interview with oscar winning director and former scientology member paul hagut says he thinks the religion is a cult. the church dismisses him as the hypocrite of hollywood. we'll speak with him and talk to the author of a new book that explores the link between scientology and hollywood. >>> we want to get to breaking news. nbc's nichelle cokosinkski liven london. >> reporter: this has been changing by the moment. first, the report that a number of hostages has escaped. now that algerians have raided the facility and a number of have been killed, including hostages. 41 people held, among them americans, british, norwegians, and they called this retribution for french intervention in neighboring mali against militant there. at this hour scattered reports out of the algerian desert. that large bp gas facility, that a standoff is going on. algerian army has militants and dozens of international hostages surrounded. among them, americans. >> in order to protect their safety, i'm not going to get into numbers, i'm not going to get into names, not going to get into any further details as we con